>> there's something so touching about what this humble cop did, warming the hearts of even cynical journalists everywhere. that's it for this edition of "reliable sources." i am howard kurtz. if you miss a program, go to itunes monday check out the free podcast. search for reliable sources. back here next sunday morning, 11:00 a.m. eastern for another critical look at the media. "state of the union" with candy crowley begins now. an offer they can't accept. today, republicans say the white house plan to avoid the fiscal cliff is a thelma and louise theory. >> we're trying to get these guys to come together and reach an agreement that's going to be good for the country and for the economy. >> then what now? with democratic senator mark warner and kelli ayote. benghazi and obama's second term.

with montana governor brian schweitzer, and former hewlett-packard ceo carly fiorina. and susan page of usa today. i am candy crowley. and this is "state of the union." republicans call the fiscal cliff plan a joke, an insult and break from reality. suffice it to say, it is unacceptable to them. the president's opening round offer includes $1.6 trillion in new taxes, $400 billion in savings from medicare and other entitlement programs, $50 billion in new stimulus spending, and an additional $285 billion to fund depreciation and mortgage programs, unemployment insurance benefits, and payroll tax cuts. >> this extra spending, that's actually greater than the amount they're willing to cut. i mean, it's -- it was not a serious proposal.

>> while his aides were on capitol hill offering up the opening bid, the president was making his case in pennsylvania campaign style. >> at the end of the day a clear majority of americans, democrats, republicans, independents, they agreed with a balanced approach. deficit reduction. >> after the president's remarks, i spoke with his main man on the fiscal cliff, treasury secretary tim geithner. >> let me ask you, the reaction to your going up on the hill and saying this is basically the white house position has been -- mitch mcconnell saying i think it was just demeaning for them to ask the treasury secretary to come up here and give a proposal like this and by this we have people saying it's a sham, it's -- you know, ridiculous, it's a nonstarter. when you went up there, you didn't think republicans were going to go "good idea." >> you know, what we're trying to do is get these guys to come

together and reach an agreement that's going to be good for the country and good for the economy. >> by these guys you mean you all and the republicans. >> and democrats together. >> and the white house. >> that's what we're trying to do. what we did was put forward a very comprehensive, very carefully designed mix of savings and tax reforms to help us put us back on the path to stabilizing our debt and fixing our debt and living within our means. we've been very detailed about how to do that, both on the spending side and revenue side, and we think this is a good plan for the country, and it does the most important thing, which is it gives 98% of americans the certainty your taxes aren't going to go up, and it gives us a chance to make sure we're protecting medicare for future generations and gives us the ability to lock in a set of carefully designed reforms that put us back on the path to fiscal balance. it's its a very good plan, and we think it's a good basis for these conversations. >> it's a starting point because when you look at it, the president said in september i am still willing to deal with

republicans and, you know, $2.50 worth of cuts for every dollar's worth of revenue raising. this is nowhere near that. >> that's not true. what we are proposing is very consistent with that. we have roughly $2 of spending cuts if you include what's already been enacted. >> does that count here? if it's already enacted. >> of course, it counts. >> that was your debt ceiling deal, correct? >> no, that was -- let's just go back. we've been having this conversation with republicans for about 18 months, and from the beginning what we all agreed is we need roughly $4 trillion in savings over ten years. we've been doing that in stages. we did $1 trillion in spending cuts up front. we proposed a balanced mix of change on the tax side and spending side to go beyond that, and look at it together, it's roughly two to one spending cuts versus tax increases. now, we've been very detailed about what we can do on the spending side. we proposed $600 billion in cuts in health care programs, other programs under ten years.

republicans are -- we don't expect them to like all of these proposals, and all we can do is lay out what we believe in and ask them to come back and say what they would prefer to do. >> one of the things that the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell said was, listen, if you take higher premiums for the wealthy in medicare, you increase the eligibility age in medicare to eventually bring it to the parody of social security. if you slow the costs of living in social security and other entitlement things, we're at the table, dealing with revenue. that good with you, those things? >> there are a lot of ideas from democrats and republicans. >> how about these specific ones? >> there's a lot of ideas out there, but what i can do today is explain to you what we think makes the most sense and what's in the proposal today. again, we're prepared to listen to what republicans suggest we do, but we can't react until they've given us a proposal we can look at and see how it all fits together. >> do they have your proposal?

they put on a piece of paper. we were told it wasn't an actual plan. that you just sort of told them. so there's an actual plan on a piece of paper saying here it is. >> we've laid out a comprehensive detailed framework of how we do it and in what stages with $600 billion of spending cuts spread over ten years. in entitlement programs. i think right now the best thing to do is for them to come to us and say, look, here's what we think makes sense. we've told them what we think makes sense. what we can't do is try to figure out what's going to be good for them. they have to tell us. >> and by that you mean in terms of cuts because you know what they want in taxes. they don't want to have tax rates go up on the wealthy. you know that they want to do something about entitlements. the way this looks to them, if you take a republican side of this having seen your plan today, the administration plan today, is they're asked to do $1.6 trillion in revenue raising or tax increases, however you want to say it, and there is no certainty of any cuts here. there's sort of -- here's this $400 billion, and, you know, it's not guaranteed but we'll talk about it next year.

if you're a republican, you don't take that deal. $50 billion in stimulus, and that's more spending, not less. there's just a lot of things in the air, and not to mention you all want to control the debt ceiling. that's just not -- i mean, can you understand how that's a nonstarter for them. >> it shouldn't be. that's not what we're proposing. we're proposing a balanced mix, detailed changes on tax policy. higher rates and deductions for the wealthiest americans along side detailed measurable up front reforms on other government programs, so that together -- >> such as? >> again, in medicare, in health programs. other programs, we've still laid out $600 billion. a couple of examples, but can you look at the details. we propose to reform and limit farm subsidies, which can save a significant amount of money, and in health care we proposed things, like, for example, raising premiums modestly for higher -- we propose to get the government much smarter in how it purchases medicine. those are just three examples, but there's $600 billion of

detailed policy in that program which alongside the trillion we did together that's already in place and the savings we get from winding down these wars is a substantial package. >> you have a $16 trillion debt, and you did $1 trillion of it, and that was in order to get your debt ceiling raised. how does that count -- >> it counts because it reduces the deficit. we're here trying to reduce the long-term deficit. >> they want new ones, the republicans? >> again, we're prepared to do these on the spending side. what we're not going to do is extend those tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. those cost $1 trillion over ten years. there's no possibility that we're going to find a way to get our fiscal house in order without those tax rates going back up. again, alongside that we're prepared to do some very detailed things on the spending side, and we're -- >> there's no guarantee, right? didn't that say that? at least according to the read-out we got, your plan, so

you can feel free to correct me because you haven't given me a read-out of it. >> guaranteed up front measurable savings scored by sea enacted into law. the only guarantee is when congress enacts policies. >> you would be willing to go for specific things and guarantee that there would be a specific amount of cuts? >> of course, of course. >> but that's next year? >> no, that's not true. we're prepared to do up front alongside a deal that includes raising rates. we are prepared to do a meaningful amount of savings on the spending side. not just to avoid the damage of the sequester, but to help reduce the long-term deficits. >> you want them -- you want them to come forward for the cuts. >> in general we've laid out a detailed plan. we would be happy to look at an alternative plan, but they have to lay that out for us. both on the revenue and rates side. also on the spending side. that's just a reasonable way. we can't sit here and try to figure out what works for them. they have to tell us what works for them.

let's go to what's at stake in this context. this is something we can do. i think we're going to get there. there's too much at stake not to get there. not just for the american economy, but for the world economy. we have a chance to do something very good for the country, very good for the country now. not just protecting 98% of americans from seeing an increase in their taxes, not just preventing the threat of default hanging over the country in the future, not just preventing deeply damaging spending cuts, but doing something to create room to invest in infrastructure, strengthen the economy, get more people back to work, and putting our long term fiscal house in order. there's no surprise. you're a pro at this. there's going to be a lot of political theater between now d when we get there. >> is this a part of that political theater? this is your opening gambet here. it's not -- you know you're not going to get what you went up there -- >> what we're trying to do -- this is the only way i know how to do these things. to solve problems, you have to be clear and direct with people about what you want and what you need and what's important for the country, and that's what we did. in those proposals, no surprise.

there are things the president campaigned on. the country has had a chance to think about the proposals. they're overwhelmingly supported by the american people and the business community, and that's why we think that ultimately they're going to be the basis for an agreement. >> so the $50 billion in stimulus, let's take that that's in there for roads and infrastructure, et cetera. if you don't get that, no deal? >> we have huge support in the business community for that. >> if you don't get that? >> it's good for the economy. it makes the businesses more competitive. gets more americans back to work. it's something we can afford. those proposals we made to strengthen growth are things we pay for in this -- we show how to pay for it. how to make sure they're using the savings for wars, for example, to invest in things that are important to america, and what we're asking people to do is to make a modest investment in making this country stronger. >> right. again, you know where this is going. john boehner, again, speaker, said we're at a stalemate. is that how you would describe where things are? >> i think we're far apart

still, but i think we're moving closer together. again, remember -- >> where are you closer? >> the republicans have said for the first time in decades, if i'm not mistaken, the leaders of the republican party, that they are prepared to raise taxes as part of a deal that helps reduce our long term deficit. what they haven't said is how far they're willing to go on rates and revenues, and that's what we need to see from them. >> they said no increased rates. >> but that's -- but they know this. there's not going to be an agreement without rates going up. there's not -- >> you'll go off the fiscal cliff if the republicans say, sorry, no way are we going to raise rates for the -- on the wealthy. you guys are willing to go off -- >> if republicans are not willing to let rates go back up and we think they should go back to the clinton levels, the time when the american economy was doing exceptionally well, there will not be an agreement. >> you would be willing to let that happen? >> let me explain why. if they are going to force higher rates on virtually all

americans because they're unwilling to let tax rates go up on 2% of americans, then that's a choice they're going to have to make, but they'll own the responsibility. >> but it is kind of a choice the country will have to pay for, correct? is there some pontiac for you all. you would let that happen. fine, you don't want new tax rates. we're out of this. >> what we're trying to do is to get them to come together and join us and doing something that's good for the american economy, and we recognize that's going to require spending savings, not just revenue increases on the top wealthiest 2% of americans. >> and you propose the spending side. you like to see what they want? proposals on both sides. if they want to go beyond that, they should tell us what they like to do. if they want to do it differently -- >> whose turn is this? where are we in this? >> the ball really is with them now. again, they're in a hard place. they're having a tough time trying to figure out what they can do. that's understandable. this is very difficult for them. we might need more time to figure out where --

where they go next. >> we don't have a lot of time. >> you can't wait very long. what we are trying to do is be as clear as we can with what is essential to us and what we like to have and what we think is good for the american economy and what we need to hear from them now is what do they think makes this. -- makes sense. >> in terms of cuts? you know what they think makes sense in terms of revenues. >> no, they haven't told us yet what the revenues ask rates or reduction limitations, there's been nothing except for a vague recognition, which we welcome. the revenues are going to have to go up. that's part of it, but that's just the -- >> they have been adamant on no rate hikes. my final question because you're going to leave us at some point, i guess, after this fiscal cliff thing is cleared up in some form. when you look back over your four years here as treasury secretary, when you look back at the stimulus plan, $7 plus trillion, when you look back, is this where you thought we would

be when you started trying to fix the economy you got? >> i think we're in a much stronger position today as a country than we were in 2007 in a way when the president came to office. >> i just wonder if you think looking forward that this was where you thought we would be. did you think we would be better off at this point? >> to me i think we're in a much better position than actually i thought was realistic, in those darkest days of this financial crisis, when there was a real risk of catastrophic collapse, and i think all americans can be much more confident today than any time in the last four or five, six years that we have a better foundation for broad-based growth. i'm proud of being part of that. even with all the challenges we've head. >> mr. secretary, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. will congress beat the clock on the fiscal cliff? >> there's a stalemate. let's not kid ourselves. >> democratic senator mark

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reaction to what timothy geithner brought to capitol hill. it seems to me it kind of moved things backwards. there was sort of this, okay, okay, we're -- we'll put revenue on the table, and then suddenly people are saying, well, we're really far apart. we're at a stalemate. did it do more harm than good? >> i don't think so. when they first met, the offer in terms of a down payment. let's go ahead and have the rates go back up, which, by the way, was the assumption that was made in the simpson-bowles plan, it was the subjects made in the gang of six. you can still do tax reform off that higher base. then they said month, that's not enough. give us your full plan because as somebody who spent more time doing business deals than i have in politics, you lay out a term sheet. the president laid out a term sheet with all the details. i think in any negotiation i've been involved in, you put down a term sheet, the other side comes back and says, no, i like this part, i don't like this part, and my hope would be that they would actually get to those

negotiations because every day that clicks off, we are hurting the economy as we go into the christmas retail season as people are probably not buying because they may not know all the details of the cliff, but they know bad stuff is going to happen if we don't get our act together and get this done. >> senator, you heard the treasury secretary say, well, now it's up to the republicans. they have to bring us something. what would that something be? >> well, candy, let me just say i was disappointed by the president's proposal. i think it's essentially a rerun of his budget proposal and the revenue proposals are, you know, $1.6 trillion in revenue and tax increases. it's a massive tax increase, but also also not significant and meaningful entitlement reforms, which is, as you know, the speaker came forward, put revenue on the table, and said for republicans, we really want to solve this. and i want to commend senator warner for the work he has done on the gang of six and also the go big principles because that's

contained really three components, you know, revenue, spending cuts, meaningful entitlement reforms. obviously, we need to give that certainty to our economy as well. we want to solve this, and i think the speaker earnestly wants to solve this. i was disappointed by the president's initial proposal here. >> do you think the president has to get more involved in this? we've seen some republicans are saying where is he? well, he was up in his campaign style event on friday while geithner was presenting this, and honestly, senator, there's -- as you point out, there are three kind of critical business weeks coming, certainly for retail, and it has taken us almost a month since the election for the president to put out what everybody already knew he wanted, so what -- >> the first meeting, the president laid outlet the rates go back up. the assumption that simpson-bowles had, the assumption that gang of six hilary clintons and said to our republican colleagues give us back what you want for a down payment. we're not going to solve all of this by the end of the year. then they said no, give us more details.

through secretary geithner, they laid out more detail. >> in terms of new details, and it's taken so long. >> it's also incumbent on the president to realize that this is a conversation that he has to have not just with washington but the rest of the country. bringing in business leaders, bringing in small business leaders, going out across the country. one reason i think why this time it's going to be different from the failures of the past, the debt ceiling debacle, the failure of the super committee, is i think the american people and particularly the american business community, realize what's at stake, and i think an awful lot of us, frankly, in both parties who are willing to get there -- i want to commend kelly as well. there's been a big group of us, well in excess of the majority in the senate who say we're willing to do our part. we want to give the speaker and the president room to get the framework, but we'll be there to fill in the details as we go forward. >> senator ayotte, there's not much time left here, and it does seem like an inordinate amount of time, almost a month has

passed, and we have a description of stalemate and way far apart. >> candy, i see that as very disappointing, a big problem. that's why i didn't like seeing that essentially it was a rerun of his budget that couldn't get support from either party in the house or the senate. so it is time. i see, you know -- for the eaker to come forward and put revenue on the table, that was a significant concession for republicans. >> he put revenue on the table the day after the election. >> that was very difficult. i know that mark understands that, but the primary drivers of our fiscal crisis when we think about it, we don't want to go bankrupt. we don't want to be like greece. entitlement reforms, the majority of our spending, and also to make sure that those programs are preserved 2024 medicare is insolvent. social security 2033. it is time for us to come together and solve the big problems. >> do you think entitlements have to be on the table? >> putting revenue on the table versus specificity is really two

different things. as a business guy, you got to have a term sheet with details. if the republican leadership -- >> senator mcconnell said, hey, you know what, let's raise the -- >> the president doesn't like the details in the term sheet that secretary geithner laid out, then come up with a counter term sheet. we've got to get past the kind of washington decoder speak and say specifically how do we get there? i also believe that one of the things we need to get to is major tax reform, but we need to go ahead and lay down what we're going to get layout what we do before the end of the year, and then how we get to that -- i believe at least $4 trillion in deductions. >> i have to take a quick break, so they'll stay with us after a short break. i do want to come back and ask you about president obama's u.n. ambassador susan rice. has the benghazi incident ruined her chance to come the next secretary of state? been lying around. secretary of state? 1-ecome the secretary of state? 8034ra, and u tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 find new ways to make your money work harder. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so if you're ready to teach your old 401(k) some new tricks...

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we're back with senators mark warner and kelly ayotte.

final wrap-up question. do you both agree with the following? this deal has to happen and this deal will happen before the end of the year. >> it has to happen, candy, and i truly hope that it does happen, and -- but i'm really disappointed by the president's initial proposal, and i think that we've got to get beyond, you know, the tax rate issue. i just want to say one thing. republicans have offered closing loopholes, deductions, or capping deductions. there's more revenue there. the tax rate issue is more of a political trophy than an economic solution. so it is time for us to get to the table and resolve it. i think there's some will, though, among both parties to get this done. >> hoping is not the same as getting it done. >> i think it will get done. quite honestly, getting this done will do more to jump-start jobs and the economy than any single policy proposal that either governor romney or president obama put out during the campaign. >> okay. let me turn you to benghazi. you've been quite outspoken, senator, i know about susan rice, the u.n. ambassador, the things that she said on the

sunday following the benghazi attack which turned out not to be true. are her chances to become secretary of state, should the president nominate her, and we expect something to happen this week on that, are her chances over? >> well, candy, i did meet with her this week. i remain very troubled not only myself, for example, the ranking republican susan collins of the homeland security committee raised some very important questions after meeting with her. here's where we are. after the meeting with her there was an impression that she went on and repeated some unclassified talking points on all the sunday shows, but she had the daily intelligence briefings, including the classified materials that basically had the references that individuals with ties to al qaeda were involved. >> she knew. >> she did. that information she reviewed before going on the sunday shows, and beyond the sunday

shows went well beyond the talking points saying we have decimated al qaeda, and said things like the attacks were a result of the -- direct result of our heinous and offensive video. that was want in the talking points. said that the security at our consulate was substantial, strong, significant. that's not in the talking points. frankly, not supported by the record. i mean, what happened that day? >> has susan rice disqualified -- >> nothing i have heard in my mind would disqualify her thus far. now, that's amazing to me that we should be focussing on not so much what was said about which talking points, but how did the tragedy where four americans were killed in benghazi were killed in benghazi happen. we've got a state department investigation headed up by tom pickering and former general mullen. we've got the intelligence community in which i served we're now in a series of hearings looking at that. how do we make sure? i'm sure kelly and i would agree that we have appropriate protection for our state department personnel. how do we make sure if we come under assault that we have

assets to come in and protect them. what i find remarkable is the president hasn't even nominated anyone yet. why are we spending all this time if you nominate secretary rice or ambassador rice, we ought to have these discussions. what we ought to be looking at is what happened in benghazi, how do we make sure it never happens again? >> do you find it interesting? that happened september 11th. it's now december 2nd, and we still don't know what happened, why there was no security. isn't it part of that overall discussion? >> i agree with what mark said many terms of the big picture question here. why don't we know yet? why was the consulate so unsecure given the prior attacks, given that the british left, the red cross left, and also during a seven-hour attack why couldn't we help those individuals, but also, this talking point issue, i hope that our intelligence wasn't politicized because there have been some intelligence failures and questions here. we've had three stories on the

talking points, so that's important just for making sure that our intelligence is solid going forward. >> these talking points came at the request of the house intelligence community. if there was a way to make sure we get it cleaned up and they were amended four days later, again, we'll get into this if this individual is nominated, but i think at the end of the day we make sure we never have this kind of tragedy again, and candidly, back to the issue before, in 30 days we have to decide whether this country is going to go over a cliff that would be dramatic to our economy and the world's economy. >> thank you for joining us. >> thank you, candy. ahead, president obama back in campaign mode, and, later, the election ended four weeks ago, but some people are still voting. how one lingering race might affect speaker boehner's future negotiations with the white house. do you really think brusg is enough to keep it clean? while brushing misses germs in 75% of your mouth, listerine® cleans virtually your entire mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level. listerine®... power to your mouth™.

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congress who get them and some who don't. >> president obama traveled to pennsylvania for a campaign style event on friday where he toured a local toy factory and delivered remarks on the looming fiscal cliff. joining me around the table amy stoddard, associates editor for "the hill" and montana governor brian schweitzer and carly fiorina and susan paige. thank you all. i wanted to start with that soundbyte because the president was talking about who is naughty and who is nice. i talk to lawmakers, both democrats and republican who said, really, is this -- we're offended by it. is this idea of going out, gathering public support working for the president? >> well, as you discussed with secretary geithner, these discussions at least to republicans are moving backwards now. he has inflamed the situation on the republican side making john boehner's challenge much deeper. they see it as a waste of four weeks, as you also pointed out because they've known what their ultimate opening bid would be all along.

they need to get down to business. going out on the campaign -- on a campaign style trip and calling them scrooged is really going to help, and i think they have to get in a room and get going. a deal takes more than an hour to put together, and serious talks have to begin. republicans are really very angry about the way this week unfolded. >> governor, i mean, it does seem like -- we understand you need the public behind you and the president's best energy has always come from outside washington, but it doesn't seem to have helped negotiations, at least where we see them right now. what is the point of a, a proposal that pretty much they say oh, yeah, we knew all this stuff before the election. >> let's not forget how this started. it was congress lit a fire to the barn, with the expectation for putting the fire out later. the president was elected by all

of the people in the country. we have 535 members of congress who were elected from all over the country. >> i think a lot of folks think he is now governing in -- or at least putting proposals out there like 100% of the vote -- >> let's remember how this started. congress created this so-called cliff. they decided there would be a date certain where everything would unravel. it wasn't the president that did it, and now he has laid something on the table. it's time for congress to act. to say that their feelings are hurt, you know, put on the big boy pants for girls and boys and let's get this job done. >> you know, there's been a lot of talk around this town about the movie "lincoln." in that movie lincoln in the service of a big idea expended enormous political personal capital and negotiated a deal. what we have here is a president in the service of a small idea, taxing the wealthy, who has put forward no personal political capital to actually get a deal done with these guys. you have senator warner on

earlier who said rightly so, you know, when you negotiate a deal, certain things happen. i negotiate a lot of deals too, and what i know is for a deal to get done, it has to feel like win-win. the president has to give republicans something that they can say they won. if he is going to insist on not investing his own personal skin in the game and insist on win-lose, we're not going to get a deal. >> susan, to the democrats side is wait a second, we did win. we did win the election. they consider that this was a public support. the exit polls prove. an increase in taxes on the wealthy. that's kind of their position at this point. i was interested when i asked secretary geithner -- he said there's a certain amount of political theater. are we just in the political theater stage and none of this is serious? >> you know, look at the date. it's december 2nd. it's not december 29th. that might be when things get serious. if you were planning to make new year's eve plans, i would

suggest you cancel them because under what circumstances would washington act by december 15th if the deadline is not until the end of the year? i heard something else interesting, though, in what secretary geithner told you. he said there will not be a deal unless rates go up on the top 2%. he didn't say they have to go up to clinton levels. that's where i think you begin to see the outlines of the deal that we will end up having, hopefully, at the end of the year. >> do you see signs of republicans that, yes, i have heard this too from actually republican aides. i haven't -- not anybody that was willing to put their name on it and would vote on it, but who said, you know, we sort of see that there probably will be something around tax rates, but it won't be back up to the clinton levels, and it may be for not the $250,000 limit. is there anything up there that makes you think republicans would give on the rates? >> republicans have told me privately they will give on the rates.

they are not in the interest after this election in defending millionaires. the rates go -- the threshold for tax increases moves off of 250,000 to 500, 750,000, 800,000, a million, they will budge on rates. it will probably end up being somewhere around 37%. it's time for some give. they don't want to say it at the mikes, but they've been saying it all along. you know we're going to have to budge on rates. if they're going to budge on revenue and rates, what is the president willing to give? that's how the deal gets done. what happens is what republicans are saying is if the final hour if he has given us nothing, we'll just budge on rates, and then that's still not enough to close the deal. that's all they'll get. he will not get a debt ceiling increase, and without that we're back at this four weeks later. >> there will be a deal. i think we all know there will be a deal. it won't be the grand deal. it will be a mini-grand deal, and most americans have been involved in deals. you've either bought a car or a house. if you make an offer on a car and they immediately accept it, there was a damn fool that showed up that day.

we don't know which one. there's always got to be a little bit of a give and a take when you do a deal. you make an offer and they say no, make another offer, and they say maybe. >> the problem is that the president isn't yet making offers that people know how to deal with. i think you were brilliant in trying to get secretary geithner to acknowledge that. he object physical indicateed wonderfulably. the truth is -- he was on his talking points. i think the point is that what i worry about now, i don't think anyone on capitol hill is going to let us go offer the cliff, but i think what might happen is people come to the brink and say we got to punt another time, we've got to push the deadline out, we can't get there yet, and i don't think that's particularly good for the country either, and honestly, i think people say, my gosh, we've known this is coming for, what, 18 months? why is it down to the last three weeks? >> i'm going to give you the

next -- last word after this, but next up, the front runners for 2016. only 47 months until the next presidential election day. s? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. if you're a man with low testosterone, you should know that axiron is here. the only underarm treatment for low t. that's right, the one you apply to the underarm. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer;

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we are back. susan, i promised to let you button this up. where does this all end? what are we searching for here? >> let's not forget that neither president obama more speaker boehner have all that much running room. there are conservative republicans who are not going to vote for whatever deal is reached. there are liberal democrats in the house who are not iffing to vote for whatever deal is reached. the question is there a path in vote for whatever deal is reached. the question is there a pating vote for whatever deal is reached. the question is there a patng t vote for whatever deal is reached. the question is there a patging vote for whatever deal is reached. the question is there a patoing vote for whatever deal is reached. the question is there a path that -- where their interests intersect closely snuff? >> i want to get to 2016. it's been ages since we talked about the presidential election because what caught my fancy was

that congressman ryan and senator rubio are both going to be at the center, as you guess, i believe rubio or ryan, one of them, is receiving the award. 2016 came to mind. if you are looking at either -- whichever one catches your fancy, the democratic landscape or the republican landscape for 2016, these are pretty prominent names, right? >> i think they're both the top contenders on the republican side, paul ryan is sort of the de facto leader of the party. among conservatives he is beloved. really will be an interesting figure. he is supposed to be very influential and a part of the daily negotiations on this fiscal cliff deal, although he is hiding from the press, which is an interesting game. as he kind of emerges, we know that marco rubio is running. he has already been to iowa. they both have these roles. what will a fiscal cliff deal -- will paul ryan get blamed if he does, and marco rubio can he turn the party around with some push for immigration reform? risky with the base. >> it also is interesting in these kind of years where the

republicans have now suffered a loss. clearly mitt romney is not going to be the party leader. they don't actually have one, and you watch the wilderness lap for a while. >> you know, candy, i hate to say this because i know we want to play along for 2016, but i think part of the problem in washington is everyone is so focused on the next election it's always an excuse not to get something done. i think the american people think we just went through an election. now please now that you all have jobs, could we actually solve problems and get something done? you know, 2016 will be here way too soon, and people, to your point, are already running for office on both sides, but honestly, i wish people would remember whatever party they're in, you got elected this time a month ago to do a job, and there's a big job to do. >> washington is so dysfunctional. only washington, d.c. is talking about 2016. the rest of the country is trying to create jobs. they're trying to get their kids off to school. they're trying to make payments

on their house and car. washington 2016 completely out of touch. >> i know you attended the dinner i was unable to go to. there was some mention of people on the democratic side. >> this was the dinner at which president obama first met mitt romney. first time the two men set eyes on each other. you were the speaker last time. maybe it's not time for 2016 politics but it sounded like somebody who was interested in talking to the national press. montana has never had a presidential nominee. does that mean -- tell us about that. >> you don't have your hat with you but go ahead. >> look, again, it's way too early to talk about 2016. i'm governor until january. i'll no longer have a governor's

mansions or security. i'll no longer have a driver. i think i said i have a warm regard for people. >> which is not a no. have a nice couple of weeks left. thank you. up next, the last remaining race of 2012 and what's at stake for speaker john boehner. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger.

finally, we know in this holiday season many of you and honestly a number of us continue to be thankful the election is over except, of course, our viewers in the third u.s. congressional district of louisiana. election 2012 lives on in the third and maybe it's fitting that's an intramural race fitting a conservative republican against a slightly different conservative republican. >> i offer with my experience, conservative leadership that gets results and has credibility and conservative leadership you can trust. >> versus one term tea party type jeff landry.

>> we are the conservative candidate in this race, we're out there looking for people who are interested in sending conservative leadership to washington. >> without objection, the gentleman recognized for one minute. >> they are victims of a political version of the game of musical chairs. redistricting forced two sitting congressmen to compete for one seat. neither reached the 50% mark november 6, so state law sends them into a runoff, and that sends third district louisianans to the polls again this week. >> enough is enough. >> they voted identically 92% of the time in more than 1500 recorded votes. now they are locked in a nasty second round election fight. >> if we don't get rid of those people who fail to solve the problems and continue to kick the can down the road we're going to go nowhere in this country. >> the candidates and outside groups spent a combined $6 million so far, the costliest house race in louisiana. >> mr. landry did go negative early. we had to defend our voting record.